By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University football will be looking to bounce from last week's first loss of the season, a 21-13 home defeat against Nebraska-Kearney, when the Ichabods travel to Missouri Western for a 6 p.m. MIAA contest Saturday night.
Washburn senior linebacker Grant Bruner (43) leads the nation in total tackles through the first three games of the 2022 season. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics.]
"I think they're frustrated, but we had a practice on Tuesday and it was good energy, a good practice,'' Washburn coach Craig Schurig said at his Wednesday press briefing. "We've got a pretty experienced group so they know you've got to bounce back and they know Western's a good football team.''
The Ichabods, 2-1 overall and in the MIAA, will be facing a Griffons team that is also 2-1 after a 36-12 loss at Emporia State.
"You're on the road and playing a team that's similar to us and didn't play as well as they think they should of so both teams are kind of in the same boat,'' Schurig said. "It's a collision course.''
Washburn senior linebacker Grant Bruner leads the nation in tackles with 14.7 per game and is second in solo tackles with 8.0 per game.
Washburn sophomore quarterback Kellen Simoncic ranks sixth in the nation in passing touchdowns with nine.
Taylon Peters led Washburn with 70 rushing yards on 18 carries against Nebraska-Kearney while Simoncic passed for 145 yards and James Letcher Jr. had six catches for 60 yards.
Missouri Western ranks second in the MIAA in rushing offense, averaging 268.3 yards, and is sixth in scoring offense (27.3) and fourth in total offense (410.0).
Brandon Hall is averaging 91 rushing yards for the Griffons with Reagan Jones averaging 71 yards per game.
The Ichabods edged the Griffons 47-41 in last year's game at Yager Stadium. Western leads the all-time series 26-21-2.
Washburn will be back at Yager Stadium on Oct. 1 to host Emporia State in a 4 p.m. MIAA contest.
